Dormouse – a small graceful rodent from the family of snow, resembles a small squirrel. The size of his body does not exceed 20 cm. This is an exceptionally nocturnal animal. Throughout the day, the dormouse safely hides in deep hollows, old squirrels nests or cozy rock crevices. With the onset of darkness leaves his shelter and until the morning is active. To rare animals the fauna of Ukraine does not belong to the dormouse, however its abundance is relatively small compared with other rodents.
Dormouse has the following characteristic features. The head is rounded, with an acute, muzzle, large eyes, short rounded ears without brushes. The tail of the dormouse is long, combed to the sides, fluffy, almost equal to the length of the body. The coat is thick and soft. Color smoky, brownish-gray, with a silvery tinge. The belly and chest are almost white. From the nose through the eyes to the base of the ears are clearly noticeable dark strips. The tail is brown on top, blond from below.
Inhabits a dormouse, both in the plain and mountain forests of Polissya, the forest-steppe zone and the Eastern Carpathians. Inhabits broadleaf forests, where oak, beech, undergrowth of hazel and thick bush and wild fruit trees prevail. Often, a sunset enters the fruit gardens, near the forests. In the Eastern Carpathians, the dormouse reaches the lower limit of the subalpine belt, up to 1,700 m above sea level. In the coniferous forests a shelf does not occur. The presence of a dormouse on a tree-shelf in one place or another is often explained by the presence of convenient shelters and a sufficient amount of food.
Dormouse lives on trees. The ease of movement, dexterity and speed of movement in the crowns of trees, the dormouse is not inferior to the whites, especially when in full night darkness searches between the branches of trees and shrubs food. Easily climbing the trunks, deftly jumping over thin branches, the dormouse easily makes large (up to 10 m) jumps from one tree to another.
